Bartenders Are Spirit Guides is our frequent guide to everything you need to do to make a good cocktail. Whether it be at a party, or for a good sip, let our bartender, mixologist, and ne’er-do-good friends line you up with your next imbibe. To kick it off, we’ll be heading off to the cool guys at Spiffy Dapper to see what can be done with… Aviation Gin?
Looking for an easy cocktail for a gathering – something clean, simple, and fun – but don’t want to sweat a bucket just to get it done? Enter the Spiffy Dapper, one of the hippest no-nonsense dive bars in town.
Principal Bartender Tristan Carvalho, and the whole tribe behind the bar, is going to agree with you on the easy cocktail. Good cocktails don’t need to be hard. In fact, a good strong drink shouldn’t have to take you more than five steps. You don’t have to believe their word for it: go ahead, try it yourself. Let Tristan guide you through a few classic recipes with a contemporary twist, while we take shots with him from the perfect gin for the contemporary twist – Ryan Reynold’s Aviation American Gin. (No, unfortunately, Reynold’s did not sponsor this article. We’ll leave a picture of him here though, just in case he decides to.)
East Side Story
45ml Aviation Gin
20ml Simple Syrup
25ml Lime Juice
Sliced Cucumber
Mint leaves
1. Add the sliced cucumber and muddle
2. Add the rest of the ingredients
3. Shake for 8-10 seconds
4. Pour out all the contents into a tall glass
First things first, we’d need that go-to recipe, a cocktail to make at home when your friends are over for a small party. A cocktail with home ingredients.
Tristan gets right to it, presenting the most refreshing take on a refreshing East Side – something we’d like to call an East Side Story. Because it’s easy to drink, and once you’ve drank enough of it, you’d definitely have a story to tell. Cucumber goes well with this pairing, with the mint and sour from the lime creating an incredibly fun drink that belies a simple, tried-and-tested combination.
On a side note, to those without a shaker, there’s plenty of alternatives that could make do with this recipe. You could try it with a coffee mug or even a mason jar. But heck, if you’re having friends over for cocktails – why don’t you have a shaker on you?
“Aviation is a very contemporary gin, and therefore you’d need contemporary drinks. You can’t just take old classic drinks that’ve been around for centuries, and use them with aviation. It shines when you put those little twists to it. A bit of tea, a bit of lemon… and Aviation just comes to it well.”
– Tristan Carvalho, Principal Bartender of Spiffy Dapper
The Flying Daiquiri
45ml Aviation Gin
15ml Lemon Grass Syrup
15ml Fresh Lime Juice
20ml Orange Juice
5ml Maraschino Cherry Liqeuer
1 Dash Lavender Bitter
1. Pour all the ingredients into a shaker
2. Add ice
3. Shake for 6-8 seconds
4. Pour it through a fine strainer over ice
5. Add a slice of orange (optional)
Now that we’re getting a bit more adventurous with the next easy cocktail, it’s the perfect time to talk a bit about Aviation gin. It’s got great hints of floral and spiced flavours in there. “Those are great things to pair”, Tristan says as he pours us another shot of the gin, “If you’re doing it in a more refreshing, citrusy cocktail, orange is always a good bet. Actually, maybe everything else too. Aviation’s versatile in that sense”.We’d like to add again that we’ve not paid him to write this, and that this is not a sponsored post.
The Flying Daiquiri represents that fantastic match of orange and lavender, with cherry liqueur to complement the spiced flavours. It’s sweet, a teeny bit citrus sour, and leaves a nice ending note of cherry. Perfect if you’d like to look a bit smart playing with flavours. Or if you just enjoy quality gin cocktail recipes.
The Bitter End
30ml Aviation Gin
10ml Angostura Amaro
10ml Fernet Branca
20ml Bianco Vermouth
1. Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass
2. Add ice
3. Stir for 8-10 seconds
4. Pour it through a fine strainer over ice
5. Briefly torch a sprig of rosemary and add it to the drink (optional)
Yeah, we know. It’s 4 steps, and is a 3 minute cocktail, but this ain’t exactly that easy to get ingredients for. But if you’re up to it, the Bitter End is a killer take on every classy partys favourite – the negroni. The Aviation’s got a sweet finish, and along with its floral notes, rolls out a nice taste journey of herbs, bitter fruit on the end with cinnamon sweetness and cardamom spice. Add that rosemary sprig on to garnish, torch it if you want to get a nice smoky nose in before the sip.
After a few more shots, and we’ve finished the cocktails, it’s time for the conclusion on Aviation gin. Was this a fun experience, or were we actually forcing Tristan to make cocktails out of it for nothing? This, dear readers, is a mystery that would be better left unsolved, but we’ll leave you a final note from Tristan himself, and let you decide.
“The mark of a good gin is a gin that holds up without anything to it. If you have it neat, and you can sip it, it’s a good gin.”
– Tristan Carvalho, Principal Bartender of Spiffy Dapper
We would like to thank The Spiffy Dapper for hanging out with us for an evening. Want to create one of these cocktails, or just looking for a gin to sip/have shots with? Check out Ryan Reynold’s Aviation Gin and get it delivered for free, at a discounted price, to your doorstep.
